Q.Define business.

Business is one of the first ideas introduced in AP Inter I year Commerce, and it has a precise meaning rather than a loose everyday one.

Business is an economic activity that is carried on regularly, involving the production or exchange of goods and services, with the object of earning profit by satisfying the wants of others.

Three elements make this definition precise. First, it must be an economic activity -- undertaken for a livelihood and measured in money terms, not a personal or social act. Second, it must be regular and continuous -- a single isolated transaction is not business. Third, it is undertaken with the object of earning profit, even though the actual result in any given period may turn out to be a loss rather than a profit.

Students often define business only as "buying and selling," which describes trade, not the whole of business (it leaves out industry/production entirely). Always include the three ingredients -- economic activity, regularity, and profit motive -- not just the exchange of goods.